LET EM GROW

A pic from the center of the plot a week ago..

I go in to every season expecting to eat tag soup lol.. That way when i do harvest a buck worthy of the Red barn wall, I perk up my shoulders and swell my head a bit.. Even though his antler inches are only half of what they would be on that 8P/8R line lol

That white garage and back room will in about 3 weeks though! lol

Duratracs are a great tire. Get the PLY you desire. Had a set on a lifted truck they lasted a long time. ITs a mix between M/T and A/T

The difference in soils and soil health with poorer soil vs rich soils is amazing.. My plots at camp/lease are terrible clay soils.. lots of rotations and amendments needed to produce great crops.. Behind my house in Black Muck soil.. for 3 years Ive rotated crops and only used minimum till twice.. Last fall i started this 1/2acre plot behind my house in to a perennial plot of Clovers, chicory and alfalfa.. The plot did really really well. minimal weeds with zero herbicide use. But around me every year this year is alfalfa.. I'm not pulling deer to my 1/2 acre plot over the farmers 100 acre fields.. So i used a moderate dose of gly (in hopes to not kill off the perennials but everything undesired instead) and took the neighbors tractor and really lightly disked the plot .. just enough to disrupt perennial growth and regenerate it.. after disking i seeded a bulb blend into this plot in hopes to pull deer late season and watch them all winter. Here's the plot 3.5 weeks in.. Low lands average frost date is usually a couple weeks later than what it is 2 miles away on top of the hill.. All the clovers popped right back as well as the alfalfa.. Chicory did not which I figured it wouldn't.. Bulbs are exploding.. all the dark spots in the plot are the perennials popping back..

Exactly, And a good choice in seed blends each planting season, a rotation using cheap no till methods and some rainfall you'll never have to worry about getting a machine in there..

One thing I really learned this year is that food plot seeds don't germ or grow well or at all in extreme dry conditions(which we all know mostly).. but damn do the weeds still grow.. I will most certainly hold off in following years for more steady and occurring rain events before planting.. The germination then dying process this summer was brutal, and without terminating the plot completely after failure, the weeds will beat ya lol. Maybe its me just being rusty the last few years when i depended on my brother to do these things while i was home with kids..

If this plot is that remote and unsafe to get equipment too, then your best bet it to just cut them as low as possible and carry on. If you'll never have a machine in here you have no worry to puncture a tire, or trip/tip.. then cut them as flush and as low as possible to the ground... Then drill holes deep as theyll go, into the stumps with a big drill bit. Sounds to me this plot is going to be all hand and backpack tool labor..

I've been wondering why This plot hasn't looked so well, Even with the liquid fertilizer application and plenty of rain.. I finally put a cam up and there is does in it all day and night. This end of the plot looks the worse, and its where the deer typically enter the plot so it makes sense. Some spots north/right of this photo frame are a 1ft tall but most are less than 4" in height. Yesterday my boy and I spread winter wheat, Winter Rye and peas into this plot to thicken it up.. There was a chance of a few showers so we went with it, didn't get my other plot done as we ran out of free time.. Low and behold we got 3" rain on this plot between 8pm and midnight last night! Will hit it with another dose of liquid this week and granular Urea next solid chance of rain. This plot will get frost seeded with a huge perennial blend Seems my 2 kill plots have gotten hammered by the deer before they even had a chance..

If it hasnt had a September mow yet.. certainly mow. IMO all perennial plots need to be mowed in September this gives a few solid weeks of re growth and keeps the plants at a younger growth stage, rather than taller more mature and slightly less palatable/preferred.. Young green growing vegetation is most time always better than tall older growth. Just mow high and clip the top of everything, this will control some weeds as well

I watched a woman pile bags of deer corn in her cart the other day at Walmart.. I chuckled.. Shes gonna give the boys a run for their money lol

For what is cost, go rent a mini excavator and pop them. Then get any other work done you want to while you have it. Or pay someone to forestry mulch them down.. about 200$ an hour

Im going with No, as too many people will push the limits. Pushing the limits into season, therefore holding deer on their property longer than they normally would, bc its easier to dump a bag of goodies rather than put in the work. ( I hate Laziness) If people could be honest, and decent people.. Id say yea, I support it. January 15-aug31. Mineral only, Unless molasses. My opinions have nothing to do with CWD as deer eat vegetation that gets pissed and shat on by other deer, and lick branches that every deer in the herd licks as well.. Its a people thing, as it always is .. Every time..

It speaks volumes, if your intentions are to truly let deer grow, and build age class on your properties. Instead of targeting one buck, I build a "hit list". and I also tell myself each year, Tag soup is a good thing.. your doing your part at building age class. If you shoot that buck at the end of season, but passed him early on, your doing it out of spite, and certainly not for meat(some situations change I get it). But in terms of managing or herd building, Put "x" amount of does on your list, and certain bucks of the age class your targeting.. And i can not stand when the words come out, "Well, Its not my biggest.." Hunting has become a competition for some.. Do you , and let others be, providing they are doing so lawfully. It used to bother me when neighbors shot young bucks, then i realized, I, yes I was the problem.. Life is short, Everyone's life is different.. be safe, be legal to your best ability and have fun.

With good nesting habitat one wouldn't have to hunt the predators so hard. But with no real good nesting habitat one must control nest predators to their best ability. Fawns and Turkey poults require a little different habitat for successful growth. And most dont consider Turkey populations when going in and doing "work" on their land for healthier and better deer herds.. If anyone is on FB, follow Mike Chamberlain.. He has a ton of good info on there and every Tuesday he posts new info on his findings.. Turkey Tuesday.. We hunt predators to our best abilities while battling life at the same time.. and the Poults are certainly there, They have their preferred habitat and they will stick to it until they are strong enough to escape all dangers. Where you see poults at a very young stage in life, its best to just leave the area alone for a month or so. Give them all the help they can get to succeed in life... First pics here on this part of the Lease, when there was literally zero life here this spring..

IT really is, I mean they aren't the best service as mine is hit or miss somedays but overall, I have no complaints. The price hasnt changed much over the few years weve had it. Plus you call and they work with you. Free basic channels with a simple app download. Hard to beat that. Wifi and basic tv for a little over $100 per month. I only watch a select few channels so my needs are met.. others may disagree..

Id find an app that will work for you. Dish and or Directv is too costly for us.. Pay for the apps/channels that youll use and be more satisfied. Our spectrum internet pkg comes with most basic channels and pay monthly for a couple extra apps. We tried Dish and directr at camp in Avoca and they always raise the bill after each year, nearly double.. Smart Tv or a roku of some sort is all you need. Just need wifi

A brush hogging in late winter when the ground is frozen would leave this cover available until heavy frost/freeze knocks it down. Once knocked down and ground frozen you can control the saplings with mowing. This keeps your field a "sanctuary" as long as possible, and you can still control the un-wanteds as well.

My two biggest bucks on one property are running together, one has been hard horn a week, the other still full velvet. 5,5 and a 6.5 yr old

1/3 of my bucks on cell cams are shed already..

Like to take a whitetail with my 22-250 pushing a 50gr barnes tsx At this point 2nd gun will be 6.5cm using a 140eld m Havent had the chance to tinker with any other guns just yet. Range day soon Wife will be using her 243 shooting 80 gr soft point or 85gr tsx

You can certainly tell the plots the have good soils vs the more poor soils. My camp with lower PH clay soils, the brassica plants are half the size(with liquid fertilizers) vs the black muck soil in my backyard.. These backyard black muck plants have zero fertilizer and are 8" tall in 3 weeks, vs 4-6" tall fertilized plants at camp.. Camp i typically plan to spend zero on lime or granular fert, and simply get back into planting only annuals each season to keep soils healthy and build Organic matter..

The standing natives typically offer cover and food all in one.. IF you brush hog to control it, Id recommend mowing it late winter when the ground is frozen every couple of years.. To control saplings. These fallow fields offer good habitat and some food for wildlife at a cheap price. Not sure how big the field is, but taking a percentage of the field and carving out a plot in it would probably suit you very well. Im going to try an experiment this year on a 3 acre fallow field, Apply Cleth(for grasses) early May and let the broadleafs like ragweed golden rod etc thrive.. Maybe even sow some sanctuary seed blends into them, and add a couple clusters of evergreen for thermal cover.. I have a 1/2 acre plot carve out into it already

IT does work, Just apply it as reccomended. Used Liquids this year for the first time. I buy the good stuff from grandpa rays.. tad bit more on the price tag but works better.

That bucks body is so big it makes him rack look a bit smaller than it actually is.